Page 34 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

‘No, it’s not that.’

She made a soft scoffing noise with pale lips that told him she was still deeply upset. And Sebastián, who rarely explained himself, knew she deserved a better explanation.

‘We got too close,’ he said. ‘I didn’t like it. I was already planning to pull back—’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We got too close,’ he repeated, but refused to elaborate on that particular matter. ‘Then I heard you say “I love you, darling”, and it sounded as if you meant it. But then you said you had a daughter...’

‘Did you think gold-digger Emily’s friend was just like her? After a rich daddy for her child—?’

‘Anna,’ he broke in, his tone short, and it halted her. ‘Are you going to let me explain or not? Believe me, I’d prefer not to.’

She gave a small, tense nod, which invited him to continue when he’d really rather not, but he pushed on.

‘When I heard you say “I love you”, I was maybe angry...a bit jealous, even...’ he admitted, and then frowned, surprised to have said that.

He never revealed such things—just didn’t—but her glaring eyes were waiting, which didn’t make it any easier. He took a sip of his drink and for once knew he was the uncomfortable one.

‘I wasn’t upset that you have a daughter. I was upset with you for leaving her.’

She frowned, parted her lips to question him, but then snapped them closed, as if consciously letting him finish. He wished now he had left the whole subject alone.

‘I thought we had spent enough time together that you might have spoken about her, mentioned her... Maria left when I was about ten. Alejandro was five. Carmen not even one.’

How ironic that he now wished she would interrupt, so he could draw a line under the entire thing, but she remained silent, her green eyes more curious than angry now.

‘She was away a lot even before that, though. Affairs, lovers... I didn’t really understand that then, but...’ He had never articulated it, not even to his family, but he had spent a lot of time alone on his yacht in recent months, thinking. ‘When Carmen was maybe two years old she was sick—nothing terrible, but she had a fever. The nanny was trying to calm her and the doctor came. I remember going into the lounge. My mother was on TV, doing a live interview on a talk show. Laughing, flirting, dancing. Clearly without a care or any thought as to what was happening with her children at home.’

‘Out of sight, out of mind?’

Anna repeated what he had said to her that morning, but her voice was without anger now.

‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘I overreacted. I don’t usually.’

It was possibly the understatement of his life. In the relationship department his baseline setting was freezing cold—Sebastián knew that much about himself. His passion was reserved solely for business, and not just the family one. He had major investments of his own. Certainly he would never be reliant on any one thing or person. Yet that morning he hadn’t just frostily pulled back, as he always did if anyone got too close. He’d been savage.

‘I should never have said what I did. But I was already smarting from the “I love you”, and then...’

‘I get it.’

Anna knew none of that had been easy for him to admit.

‘So can you accept my apology?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

And she did. It felt odd to sit there facing him, with all the anger and hurt of these past months fading away to nothing.

‘Thank you,’ she nodded.

‘No, thankyou,’ he said.

Clearly uncomfortable with all he’d revealed, he glanced at their empty plates in relief.

‘I’ll get the bill.’ He went to signal to the waiter, then remembered to be polite. ‘Unless you want dessert?’

Anna shook her head, but although she didn’t want dessert, she also did not want the night to end just yet. He made her so curious.

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